Jenkinson said, “We are the first company to make over £1bn profit in this sector” and “The whole team are very proud.”

On Monday Persimmon’s shares fell 5% over the company’s help-to-buy scheme, the housebuilder sold 7,970 homes under the scheme in 2018, which was up 7,682 from 2017.

Chairman Roger Devlin said, “Persimmon is changing. In his short time as interim CEO, Dave Jenkinson has introduced new approaches to customer satisfaction and colleague engagement, whilst also ensuring that the group delivered another year of growth.”

Looking ahead, the company said in its results statement, “Whilst sales expectations remain subject to a degree of uncertainty at the start of any financial year, the lack of clarity with respect to the UK’s exit from the EU is currently creating additional unpredictability.”

It added, “We have worked with our suppliers to identify any material supplies which may be exposed to some disruption to availability as a result of Brexit and we are working with them to adopt appropriate mitigating measures.”